Olsen’s best pal denied him a move to Celtic
Veteran Norwegian boss Egil Olsen has revealed the remarkable story about how his dog cost him his dream move to become manager of Celtic.
The 78-year-old, who twice took Norway to the World Cup Finals, has written his autobiography, My Matches, to celebrate his 62 years as a player and manager.
He was offered the opportunity of managing the Hoops in 1998 when Dutch coach, Wim Jansen, had walked out on the club after denying Rangers 10-in-a-row.
And in his new book, Olsen has revealed the unusual reason for him saying no to the Glasgow giants.
He recalled: “Celtic offered me a massive contract, and it was for five years.
“We even sat in my house with Celtic’s general manager and negotiated it.
“It was an excellent contract, and it was for a lot of money at the time. They offered me an annual salary of 4-million Norwegian krone (£340,000) for five years.
“My wife, Sigrun, went over to Glasgow to look at houses. So we were both ready to move.
“But just as we were ready to sign, Sigrun learned that our dog, Copier, would have to stay in quarantine in Scotland for six months if we had moved.
“That was the end of that. Sigrun pointblank refused to go, and I had to say no to Celtic.
“So I always refer to Copier as the 20-million krone dog because that’s what it cost us”
“I’ve never had any ‘What if?’ thoughts about Celtic. I have never walked around thinking that I should have done this.
“Yes, I would have had a lot more money (£1.7m in total) – but what are you going to do with all that money?”
Ferencvaros manager Sergei Rebrov has been honoured by being handed the Order of Merit award in his Ukrainian homeland.
The Hungarians stunned the Hoops this week with a shock 2-1 win in Glasgow .
Now the Budapest side’s manager has been awarded one of Ukraine’s highest personal awards by their President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to mark the country’s Independence Day.
Rebrov said: “This award is not just for my recent success in Hungary, but for how I have represented my country abroad.”
Forty-six-year-old Rebrov won 75 caps, and played in England with Spurs and West Ham, before winning two titles apiece as manager of Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros.